Interesting Affairs
by Lorelei5
Summary: When Kagome heads home for a week, and Inuyasha grows impatient with waiting for her to come back, he jumps down the well to arrive in the middle of a Halloween party - and Kagome's friends get to meet 'that violent stalker'. RR. (Chap2 Up)
1. An Interesting Evening

Author: Jennifer Rezny Rating: PG-13, for possible later content, IF the story gets continued. Genre: Inuyasha; romance/humor Disclaimer: Here it goes. All characters as of yet belong to the creators, I am not that person. Its a shame, really. Notes: Well... they're pretty IC, I'd say. Rate me please?  
  
Interesting Affairs  
  
Why is she taking so long? Where the hell is she? Why isn't she back? What's keeping her? ....... .... Why do I even care?  
  
Inuyasha's ears flicked irritably, the pointed white dog ears twitching violently as he shook his head. Perched on a fence, balanced on his feet on the thin rail, he watched around her, sniffing for her scent. All he could smell of her was old spores of her having been there recently. But they were still old. No fresh scent. And it was driving him crazy. Red sleeves billowing in the wind, he watched, listened and smelt around for her, letting the breeze take the scents to him from the well. Damnit, if she was planning to come back sometime in the next century, he would be the first to know about it.  
  
He wanted to go nearer to the well... to go peer in and see if she was coming. But, as his ego prevented him to, he contented himself by being perched on the fence where no one would bother him except for a few dozen people. Shippo, Sango, Miroku and Kaede purposely walked by at frequent intervals, just to see if he had gone yet. They knew he wouldn't though.  
  
He could see Sango in the distance. Vaguely, he hadn't paid attention to a single word out of Kagome's mouth except for the first three words: "I'm going home." He hadn't bothered to listen why, and considering they hadn't even fought (until then), he was confused as to why. He didn't care for listening to reasons. He just blew up about her wanting to leave them that bad and about being such a defenseless being that she couldn't stand to stay there with them anymore. But seeing Sango, he figured, he might as well just fight his stubborn personality and ask.  
  
"SANGO!" he called, and he saw Sango's head of shoulder-length black hair lift curiously. "HEY!"  
  
"Yes, Inuyasha?" Sango said calmly, starting up the hill towards him. He could purposely moved as she came over to him so he could still smell the well and her scent not distract him.  
  
"When's Kagome going to be back? I forgot." he said, crouching down on the fence to be at her height, sitting in his usual dog-like way, long silvery hair whipping in the breeze.  
  
Sango's reply was less than pleasing. "In two days." she said casually, and Kirara, the dual-tailed cat demon that was Sango's pet, purred at her shoulder.  
  
Inuyasha was incredibly displeased. Rapidly counting the days since she had gone back home in his head, he growled irritably, "So... she's gone for a total of six days. Greeeaaat. What exactly does she need six days for anyway?"  
  
An amused look flitted across his friend's face. One eyebrow lifted and lips upturned at the corners, Sango replied, "Oh, so you miss her that much you won't even let her go home for a week? Its just a week, Inuyasha, besides, its nice to have some relaxation and rest."  
  
Shaking his head so that his thick bangs flopped over his forehead and his hair rustled against his red robes, he snarled, "No! I don't miss her! Its just that one week of rest for us is one week for Naraku to hunt us down and collect more shards! And we need her to find the shards as well! And... and..."  
  
"... and you miss her." Sango smirked, and one white dog ear twitched angrily. Kirara mewed again, and Inuyasha hopped from the fence and turned his back from Sango, folding his arms across his chest and saying in a firm and matter-of-fact voice, "I don't miss Kagome. I just want the Shikon no Tama so I can become a full demon."  
  
Sango rolled her eyes and replied in a cool and even tone, "If you want to get her back so fast, just go there and get her. See why she went home for a week, hmm?"  
  
Inuyasha just glowered, and glanced over his shoulder at her with one golden-amber eye, then turned completely so both eyes rested completely on her. Then, with a scowl, he turned on his heel and stormed to the well, jumping down without another look back. Sango, however, she just smiled and left, heading back to her path, and once out of sight from Inuyasha, she ducked into the bushes with a grin.  
  
"I win the bet, I got him to go. Cough up."  
  
With a heavy sigh, Miroku and Shippo dug in their pockets to fork over the wads of yen they owed her.  
  
.......  
  
Inuyasha felt himself tumble into the shrine in modern Tokyo that he found himself getting used to. He had been here too many times, to either try and retrieve Kagome and fail, or sometimes, very rarely, actually speak to her while he was there. He didn't like it much in modern Tokyo... too noisy, allot of big things that worked on magic Kagome called 'electricity', big monstrous machines that sped around at lightning paces and everyone in the streets was some sort of freak, dressed in weird clothing or in stupid-looking outfits. It was pretty overwhelming, and he could recall some of the past incidents here; like when he freaked out over some little thing that made lots of noise and told time by itself. He had crushed it. It was Kagome's clock-alarm, or something idiotic like that. He didn't particularly know or even care.  
  
But as he slipped from the shrine, he was slightly disturbed. What, did everyone change their clothes daily? God, back in the present it was impossible to transport or afford multiple pairs of clothing. Luckily, he managed to get his repaired often, because they got battered quite a bit, but his robes were still pretty sorry looking. Geez, was Kagome the only sane person from the future he knew? And even then... she wore creepy outfits, so she wasn't exactly sane.  
  
Yet... though he didn't care to notice it immediately, he eventually realized something was really odd when a few people walked up to him and had the audacity to say, "What a weird costume..." or, "Wow, that such a creative cat costume... what's it supposed to be?"  
  
At first, he told himself, it was merely people being average morons. But then he noticed some weird things... people were moving in big groups, and they all wore the scariest futuristic clothes he had ever seen. One person was wearing a big suit that made him look like the saddest looking lizard-demon he had ever seen. What was going on that evening? Loud noises blared from Kagome's house, and he could see silhouettes of a few people in the shaded windows.  
  
Even the miniscule distance between the shrine and Kagome's house had quite a few lingering creeps. So he slipped around the back, jumping up to her window with ease and shoving against it to push it open. It didn't move. He looked in through the window, staring around, and caught sight of a little slip of paper on the inside of the window, attached to the glass at the side. Crouching lower to read it, he narrowed his eyes, then gave a snarl.  
  
Inuyasha, I'll be back on Saturday, it said, a short little phrase. Raising an eyebrow, he instantly figured she was mad at him and expected him to come after her. But from inside the house was coming a very loud noise, so loud that he could feel the glass vibrating. It hurt his ears considerably.  
  
"There's some sort of demon in there," he decided after a few tense moments of thought, "and its making tons of noise and its about to eat her, and I have to go save her. That's why all the people are dressed weird. They're with the demon." he waited for a second, pausing, but now slightly concerned for Kagome and the current situation.  
  
"I'm coming, Kagome!" he shouted, and smashed through the glass, landing in her bedroom and drawing out the Tetsaiga immediately. The bed was unmade, and her closet doors were wide open. Was there a struggle? There was Kagome's scent everywhere, and a few other people he faintly recognized. But no demon... was it possible it was a scentless demon? More and more confused and worried by the second, he rushed towards the door to follow the deafeningly loud sound. His heart hammered, and his bare feet sank into the carpeted floor.  
  
But suddenly the music stopped, and he waited. Was... was... something happening? He heard nothing for a moment, and then voices. Three separate voices, as far as he could tell. Neither he recognized as Kagome's. All were female. All were whispering.  
  
"You heard a crash?"  
"Yeah, it was really loud, even over the music."  
"Do you... do you think its a burglar?"  
"Oh! What if it is?"  
"Why would it be?"  
"Its halloween! Lots of pranksters and stuff about!"  
"You go first..."  
"No... you!"  
"Ow, you're hurting my arm, Rita..."  
"Sorry, I'm scared... haven't you heard stories about murderers and that coming to parties?"  
"But you don't have to dig your nails in..."  
"Shut up! It can probably hear us!"  
"Ahh... I'm really freaked out!"  
"Oh, I'll go first... I bet its just Kagome's lamp or something being knocked over..."  
  
"IS SOMEONE IN THERE?" someone shouted suddenly, as all the other voices hushed.  
  
Inuyasha said nothing out of pure fear. Who was this? What had they done with Kagome? Looking around in fear, he looked for something to block the door with. There was a desk chair... but if he moved to get it, they could come in and get him off guard. He weighed his chances. What the hell was going on?  
  
The door handle started turning, and Inuyasha, panicked, lifted the tetsaiga high over his head. He wouldn't use the windscar or the ultimate attack... just hit them really hard. He readied the swing, and as the door started inching open.  
  
"Hello?" Kagome's voice called, but he had already swung the sword before he saw her head poking in the door. Luckily, however, the sword landed in the wall, landing with a crunch and getting stuck in the drywall and wood frames. Other girls screamed and Kagome gave a terrified yelp, and he saw three sets of hands drag her back out of the room and slam the door.  
  
"Oh my god! You were almost killed!"  
"It IS a murderer! KAGOME!?!"  
"Kagome, are you all right!?!"  
"No, no! Calm down...."  
"What!? YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED!"  
"No, listen, I know him..."  
"YOU KNOW HIM?!  
"WHAT?!"  
"Is he that deranged stalker guy?!"  
"He IS violent! What did I tell you?"  
  
Inuyasha listened to the hysterical screams on the other side of the door, and stared at the handle. It was being held shut. He heard a few of the yells being directed at him, and he heard footsteps of more people heading up the stairs. What was going on? His ears hurt.  
  
"Kagome?" Inuyasha called, sounding terribly confused and rather annoyed, trying to twist the handle. It seemed multiple people were holding it closed. "Open the door."  
  
He waited for a reply, and he could literally imagine all those people on the other side staring at Kagome while she tried to look innocently confused, as he had seen multiple times before. "Kagome?" he said impatiently, and he heard someone move to the door and a few rushed slurs of, "No, Kagome, don't, he tried to kill you!"  
  
"Open the door." he commanded. "Or I'll bash it open."  
  
"GO AWAY, STALKER! Kagome doesn't want anything to do with you!" "Leave now, or we'll call the cops!"  
"That's a threat and criminal offense!"  
"We could have you charged and put on trial!"  
"This is called harassment, you stalker, we're warning you!"  
  
Inuyasha didn't understand a single thing they said, and flexed his fingers and claws with a scowl.  
  
"Move, unless you want to lose your head!" he shouted, and he heard people screaming and shouting and running away. "IRON CLAW!" he said, and plunged his claws through the door easily. The entire thing shattered explosively and a mere stick about two inches in width hung crookedly off the hinges. Part of the frame was torn out and broken. He stood at the top of the stairs, lugging tetsaiga and staring down to the bottom where about two dozen teens about Kagome's age stood. Fifteen and sixteen year olds. A whole lot of them.  
  
"INUYASHA!" Kagome said, her voice angry and exasperated at the same time. She glared up at him, and he was about to retort something when his eyes widened at her outfit.  
  
She was wearing barely anything. A black bathing suit and stockings. A few metal circles on what looked like a collar dangled at her throat, and a headband with pointed dog ears was perched on her head. A long black fuzzy rope, a tail, hung behind her by a black sash. He didn't want to say anything now. He was just disturbed. He took note that the three girls at the front of the group with her were wearing similar outfits, just as a rabbit, a cat and a fox. He didn't want to ask at all. But she was glowering at him furiously, so he said, without taking his eyes off her, "The door was blocked. I had to."  
  
Kagome looked like she had allot to snarl at him, but didn't want to say it to him infront of everyone. She marched abruptly up the stairs, ignoring her friends cries for her to stop and call the Ôcops', whatever the hell those were. Reaching him, she stared him down for a moment, the anger radiating off her, and he cowered a tiny bit.  
  
"Kagome? Erm... what's going on?" he dared ask, and she didn't hesitate to scream the words he hated to hear.  
  
"Sit. Sit. SIT. SIT. SIT-SIT-SIT-SIT-SIT!" she screamed, stomping her foot with each word, and furiously stamping her feet with the slurred sit-sit-sits. Her friends looked on in curious wonder.  
  
However, his face did not pelt to the ground as it usually did. The charms did not work here, it seemed, and they just flickered faintly with a dull light. Inuyasha started to chuckle, but caught her glance immediately and stopped and as she grabbed his arm and dragged him into the hall leading away from her bedroom. He let her tug him after her, just fearing how much shit he'd be in later once they were back in Japan... if, that is, she joined them again. He was worried of this now.  
  
He could hear all Kagome's costumed friends whispering and talking and wondering what to do. He assumed her family wasn't home - the grandfather would have started pelting him with scrolls if they had been. But now he, the great hanyou Inuyasha, was under the complete mercy of Kagome. Alone. Greaaat.  
  
She opened a door into a room with nothing but a couch and a big box in it, plus some shelves stocked with some odd books. She shut the door behind her and said, fists clenched, trying to keep her voice down, "What do you think you are doing here?!"  
  
"Why are you dressed like that?" he replied, ignoring her question and asking the question that was really bugging him. There were boys at that party... why was she dressed like that, indeed.  
  
"I asked first. Why are you here?"  
  
He sarcastically replied, "Because I want to join your whore party." and she suddenly looked downcast and glanced at the floor for a moment before saying anything more. She looked a bit apologetic now, but there was still some anger in there he didn't want to explode.  
  
"Inuyasha, I know this looks wrong to you. Me and a bunch of other girls dressed in skimpy clothes with a bunch of guys..." she explained exasperatedly and he folded his arms and waited for a real reply. "... but you have to understand this is the present now... I don't suppose Halloween exists in your time..."  
  
"Halloween? What in the hell is that?"  
  
She grimaced at his confused answer. "Yeah... want me to explain?"  
  
He gave her a snarky reply, staring at her in a provoked way, his amber-gold eyes locked on her warm brown eyes. "No, Kagome, I want you to leave me in my confusion."  
  
Her eyes flashed and she replied in a cold voice, "You're hopeless, Inuyasha."  
  
"WHAT DID I DO NOW?!" he said in protest, waving his arms in frustration. "Just explain hell-o-ween and get on with it!"  
  
She sighed, and began explaining, "Its a day of the year where everyone dresses up in costumes and goes door-to-door asking for candy. Its tomorrow. I think for you guys, its just the day of the dead, where spirits roam the earth. Not that they don't already, that is."  
  
"Then why are you dressed up funny today?" he asked icily, and she sat down on the couch with a heavy sigh. He was slightly disturbed. Was she tired of explaining things to him? Whenever they talked about her time, she usually ended up explaining things to him for hours. And now she was explaining again.  
  
"Its my halloween party today. So we're all in costume."  
  
"So... its just for fun?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
He suspiciously stared at her, running his eyes down her outfit once more. She watched him apprehensively. "But..." he started, "why're you in THAT costume?"  
  
She watched him still for a second, as if she hadn't expected the question to come at her. Blinking a few times, she replied slowly, "I don't know... my friends suggested we go as animals, so I did, and I figured I would go as a dog..."  
  
He didn't reply at all. Instead, he chose to change the subject. "Are you planning to come back anytime in the next century?"  
  
"Inuyasha, I TOLD you. I'll go back in a few days. Do you not trust me enough that you're positive I'm not ever going to go back?" she said, a twinge of irritation getting added to her voice. He shrank back a tiny bit, from the look on her face, and said, "I know, but we need you..."  
  
Kagome didn't say anything, and nor did he, after his last words. She glanced at the door and shouted suddenly, "PRIVACY! PLEASE!"  
  
Inuyasha has been so caught up in talking with Kagome he'd let his guard down, and realized that those three annoying girls were outside the door. He stood up from his spot on the couch, and lifted his claws. "Don't make me rip your heads off!"  
  
She gave him a glare of warning, but the three girls outside scampered immediately. With a sort of a sad look suddenly, she glanced at him and solemnly said, "You know Inuyasha, maybe you should go for now. I'll be back soon, okay?"  
  
He shook his head. "I'm not leaving." was his answer, firmly and set. Kagome sighed, and went to the door.   
  
"Fine. You can stay here. Just no more attacking, hmm?"  
  
He shook his head again, and kept his eyes on her. "No. I'm going downstairs with you. It might be dangerous."  
  
She looked a bit stony, as if she wasn't expecting it. Was he really just going to sit in a room while she was downstairs with possibly dangerous noises everywhere and other guys while dressed in a smaller outfit than usual? No. Over his dead body.  
  
Kagome didn't look angry, but she blushed slightly as she said, "I'm perfectly okay, Inuyasha. I don't think anyone's going to attack me."  
  
"Kagome, there was loud noises! And I thought a demon was in here, because there was nothing but loud noise and strange smells." he insisted, and folded his arms across his chest.  
  
She thought for a second as to what he was talking about, and explained in a few words, "It was music on the stereo."  
  
"That crap was music?" he said skeptically, and wandered over to her at the door. "Anyway, lets just go downstairs. You got any of that food stuff? Ramen? I'm hungry."  
  
An amused smile flitted on her lips for a milliseconds, and she seemed to give in and let him follow her out the door.   
  
"Fine," she relented, "but my friends are going to bother you ALL evening."  
  
.......  
  
"So... your name is..." one of Kagome's friends prompted, the one with the fox ears. Inuyasha stared at the kitsune-girl for a few minutes and then replied, in an edgy voice, "Inuyasha."  
  
The girl nodded and continued to stare him down, and he stared back, trying not to laugh. This was pretty stupid. He was being constantly mobbed by all the female friends of Kagome's, and whenever one of the males tried to talk to him, he was clueless as to what the latest bands were or who had won some tournament.  
  
"Nice costume. What are you supposed to be dressed as? Kimono robes and cat ears?" one girl asked him, and he shrugged, but leveled a bit of the irritability from his voice.  
  
"Actually, they're dog ears. And I'm not dressed up or anything." he said, ear flicking. The girl saw it move, and reached up and pinched it rather hard, and said, "Oh, cool, is it electronic?"  
  
The pinch hurt. It really did, but he didn't want to make more of a commotion, so he grimaced and shook her off with an airy, "Erm... yes." as he didn't particularly understand what an electronic ear was supposed to be. He glanced at Kagome, and she giggled slightly at the look on his face.  
  
"Did Kagome invite you?" one girl asked, and he shrugged. When she looked quite scandalized at his supposed coming uninvited, he smirked slightly, and she continued, "Why'd you come then? She told us you dumped her."  
  
He was more confused by this than by any question about sports or Ôcomputers'. Staring at her, he replied, "What do you mean? We never were together."  
  
"Huh?" the girl sounded almost as confused as he did. "She told us all about you... how you're an arrogant jerk and stuff. And how you get jealous whenever this other guy flirts with her and stuff, and tell her its not right and stuff, and then you turn around and see your old girlfriend infront of her. And she's such a sweet girl that she doesn't react so violently when you're with the other girl. She even told us about how you tried to kill a guy just for flirting with her."  
  
Inuyasha listened to this, with a deadpan expression. The hell?! Where was this coming from? Convinced this girl was making stuff up to try and make him hate Kagome, he scoffed, "That's crap. That never happened."  
  
"All of its false?" she said with a skeptical tone, one eyebrow raised.  
  
"Well, I did try and kill the guy, and the other part about me and Kikyo is partly true. But I'm not jealous over Kouga liking Kagome, I just don't like Kouga, and he stole part of the Shikon jewel, so he's got some shards of it in his legs which lets him get away quicker if I try to kill him." he explained, and when the girl started to accuse him of being mental patient on the loose, Kagome overheard part of the conversation and rushed over, clamping her hand over his mouth. He realized his mistake then - oh, right, they didn't understand the Shikon no Tama.  
  
He always kept an eye on Kagome the entire evening. Every once in a while one of the demonic girls would wander over to her and bother her about him being so Ôviolent and mentally disturbed'. By the end of the evening, he had learned quite a few words that supposedly were related to him, like Ôbipolar' and Ôstalker'. He wasn't either - he was just moody and wanted to protect Kagome. Nor was he violent, unless he had to be, and he wasn't THAT overprotective. Just concerned for Kagome's well-being.  
  
Eventually, people started leaving, and after a few hours of dodging confusing questions and trying to answer them, everyone was gone. Just he and Kagome were left.  
  
"So... about that conversation with what's her face." he began, and Kagome sighed for what seemed the millionth time that night. She looked at him apologetically, and said, "Inuyasha, you remember when I went home after our first big fight? The one with the alarm clock? After we met Kouga?"  
  
He nodded, and she continued, "Well, after going home, I kinda offhandedly ignored Houjou, a guy in my class that I liked a while back. So my friends assumed I got a new boyfriend and didn't tell them, so they made me spill the whole story of you and everything. They... they assumed..." she cleared up, blushing furiously, "well, they automatically wrote you off as a violent stalker who was after me, and now their suspicions are kinda confirmed."  
  
"Feh..." he said, and shrugged, a slight smirk drifting onto his face. "Its not my fault they've never been to the present, so they don't understand."  
  
She smiled, and said in an almost teasing voice, "My present or your present?" and he replied "Mine," with a grin. "That's why they don't understand. Because they don't live in the Ôfeudal' era."  
  
Both laughed a bit, both blushing, and Inuyasha asked suddenly, "So... you're not mad about the door, are you?"  
  
She looked a bit strained, but said, "Not anymore... it can be repaired. I was kinda angry at first... I mean, that's my bedroom door. But I'm over it now. You were confused." Inuyasha breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
Both were quiet for a moment, and then Kagome asked, "Are you... going to go home tonight, or do you wanna stay here?"  
  
He thought before answering. "I think I'll stay here, if that's okay."  
  
"I'm home alone tonight anyway... I need some company." she smiled, blushing a bit, and he nodded. He'd spend the night. Then they'd go home in the morning.  
.......  
  
Riiiiiing. Riiiiing. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing.  
  
Inuyasha's ears went on the revolt at the loud noise echoing through the house. Following the loud source of the noise, he climbed over the couch to stare at the small box on the table. It was ringing loudly every few seconds, and he lifted his claws to hit it. What... what was that?  
  
Kagome came over to it before he could hit it though. Pressing a button on the top, labeled "Speaker", she sat down on the couch, watching the phone, and said cheerily, "Hello?"  
  
"Huh?" Inuyasha turned to her and asked, and jumped when the box responded, "Hey, Kagome!"  
  
"Hey, Rita." Kagome replied, and Inuyasha glanced between the plastic box and Kagome. A talking box. Okay. That made so much sense.  
  
"Oh my god, Kagome, I wanted to talk to you about that Inuyasha guy... he's scary, but he's SUCH a bishounen, isn't he? Talk about HOT... you must have fallen for his looks, right?" the box said, and Inuyasha stared at it. What the hell was this? A talking box that thought he was good-looking?  
  
"Eh..." Kagome trailed, bright red and with a hand clapped over her face.  
  
"Who are you? Some kind of talking box?" Inuyasha asked, eyes following a thin rope connecting it to the wall.  
  
"Huh?" the voice replied, and Inuyasha leaned over it, weirded out. "Kagome?"  
  
"Sorry, Rita... that was Inuyasha." Kagome said, still bright in the face. She leant over and picked up the receiver, shifting it off of speaker mode. Inuyasha looked puzzled, and he couldn't hear the voice any longer, but Kagome continued talking to the box through the thick stick-like thing. In a matter of seconds, Kagome said she'd call Rita back later, and put down the stick thing on its rack.  
  
"What in the hell was that?" he asked, crouching on the floor infront of the phone still, looking up at Kagome in a confused wonder.  
  
"A phone. It lets you talk to people anywhere in the world." she said simply, "I'm gonna go get changed, then we can watch a movie or something... do you want to make a bowl of popcorn or something?"  
  
"Sure... but I don't know what popcorn is, so I dunno." he said, and she directed him to the kitchen.   
  
"Top shelf on the right of the microwave - the box with numbers on the front with a big door. Just follow the direction on the packet, it'll be easy - even for you." she said, but added, "Or you can just wait for me if you're scared to use it or something."  
  
She began climbing the stairs, fuzzy dog-tail bouncing at her heels. Inuyasha stared after her, but then scowled and stalked into the kitchen, and he ransacked the cupboard he was directed to.  
  
"Does she think I'm that clueless or something?" he grumbled, her little Ôeasy- even for you' ringing in his ears. He found the Ôpopcorn' box and opened it up, pulling out packets with little seeds in them, the package wrapped in cellophane paper, like ramen noodles.   
  
"One's not going to make enough for both of us," he decided, taking about five packets. Skimming the directions lazily, he threw them all into the microwave, cellophane and all. Punching the Ôpopcorn' button on the microwave like the box told him to, he watched in curious wonder as the machine started up, the inside glowing with a bright magic light, and a disc in the middle spinning the popcorn packets in slow circles. He watched with great interest, but watched in a sudden worry as the cellophane began sizzling and was starting to melt. Then the bags started expanding, getting larger and rounder, like a ball being inflated. This was not good, he decided, and was about to try and stop it when the entire thing exploded open, the door being blasted off its hinges. He was suddenly drenched in a hot liquid like melted butter, just brighter, and was peppered with fluffy white and yellow puffballs and little unexploded seeds.   
  
What the hell was this? Who would own this stuff? he wondered angrily, seeing the microwave doorless and quite broken, little electric currents jumping around the inside.  
  
Kagome obviously heard the noise, as she was running down the stairs moments later and standing in the kitchen's doorway in a stunned amazement, her mouth forming a little ÔO' of surprise. She was out of her dog costume - now she was wearing a white tank top and baggy pajama pants. The pants were checkered, orange and yellow, like the kimono of that little girl that hung around with Sesshomaru. He stared at her and she stared at him.  
  
Then she started laughing.   
  
He assumed it was really funny to, him standing there, drenched in quite a bit of melted butter down his front, popcorn littering the entire floor. He would have laughed too, if he wasn't feeling incredibly stupid. He constantly accused others of being brainless - well, he just blew up a microwave. What goes around comes around. He glared at her laughing face.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry, Inuyasha!" she giggled, walking over, "I'm sorry, but that's the funny..."  
  
"You don't mind the microwave?" he said gruffly, but apprehensively. The laughter died from her face for a moment, but she then smiled and said, "Don't worry about it. Its really old - we're getting a new one anyway."  
  
"What is popcorn supposed to be? Food, I assume?" Inuyasha asked, and she nodded. He stared at it for a moment, his buttered kimono soaked to the skin and clinging uncomfortably to his chest.  
  
"Hang on a sec, I think we've got some of dad's old clothes upstairs. You can borrow a new outfit. After you get changed I'll show you how to make popcorn, hmm?" she laughed, then disappeared up the stairs. A few moments later, she returned with a pair of men's pajamas, a faded white t-shirt and red pants. She put them in his arms and directed to him to the washroom, where he changed quickly, leaving his robes in a heap on the floor. The shirt fit him, though it was a bit loose, and the pants fit the same. It was a much lighter outfit than his robes.  
  
When he retraced his steps back to the kitchen, she gazed at him somewhat speechlessly for a moment. He looked down at himself, and asked, "Is something on backwards or something?" She shook her head, blushing, and didn't say anything.  
  
He picked up another couple bags of popcorn, and glanced at the microwave. "I don't think it'll work anymore."  
  
She giggled, and said, "Yeah, it won't."  
  
"How do we make it then?" he asked, and she continued giggling like an idiot - or rather, like the schoolgirl she was. "What's so damned funny?"  
  
"That's not the microwave. You blew up the toaster oven."  
  
He stared at her, stupefied. Wow, another stupid point to him. He certainly was having a good experience in the future. Granted, he HAD seen all of this stuff before - he'd just never tried to use it or seen it used. The only thing he'd ever tried to use in Kagome's house was a gas stove, and that went well. THAT was easy to use, unlike everything else.   
  
Kagome was explaining to him how to make it. She took off the cellophane wrapper and unfolded the paper packet, placing the instruction side facing up. Then she hit the popcorn button once. She had put ONE packet in the microwave. He had put five and hit the popcorn button five times.   
  
"Will that make enough?" he asked, and she responded, "The bag expands, as you obviously saw." He nodded apprehensively.  
  
.......  
  
"What do you want to watch?" she asked, gesturing at all the movies on the shelf below the TV. He crouched down beside her, wondering what the hell he was supposed to be picking. She explained, seeing his face, "Its like a theater play... but with real people, and you can watch it over and over again. You watch it on the TV, and you can rewind it and forward it past the parts you don't like."  
  
"So... its a puppet show where you can control time?"  
  
She laughed again, and cheerily replied, "Yup, that's it."  
  
He looked at the cases closely. Reading the titles and backs of the cases, Kagome explained each movie further into depth beyond what the crummy paragraph on the back told him. He asked her which was her favourite. She replied, "Lady and the Tramp".  
  
He shrugged and handed her the case, and she smiled, opening it up and putting a rectangular black box into a bigger rectangular silver box. The big TV box erupted into color at the push of the button.   
  
Crashing down onto the couch, Inuyasha sank back against the pillows, resting his arm across the back of the couch, folding one leg up infront of him, and plopping the big blue bowl of popcorn in his lap. He hadn't tried any yet. Kagome climbed up next to him, snuggling under his arm and stretching out her legs on the couch beside her. She leant against his side, munching on some popcorn as the movie started. He picked up a handful and stared at it doubtfully. On the TV, two humans were opening a box and a wimpy-looking puppy was coming out of it. He was disinterested, but he paid attention anyway. Maybe he would learn something about modern life.  
  
As the movie progressed, he became more interested. Lady, the sissy dog, with floppy ears and a collar, was worried her owners didn't like her anymore because they got a new baby. She meets a handsome, street-savvy tramp cleverly named Tramp. They enjoyed several outings together, including a memorable spaghetti dinner by moonlight at Tony's, but their relationship is strained not only by Lady's loyalty to her human family and their newborn baby, but by Tramp's devil-may-care attitude that at one point gets Lady thrown in the dog pound. Tramp redeems himself by saving the baby from a rat and thereby wins Lady's love. And then there was a whole lot of stuff about them being complete opposites and still fell in love. He thought this whole plot was ironic. But he was interested, and Kagome, though she must have watched it a million times, looked very spellbound. The top of her head was near his cheek, and he could smell her scent strongly. Kagome had eaten most of the popcorn already, as he didn't care for it too much.  
  
"Open my eyes?" the innocent young bitch said on the TV, when Tramp asked her to leave her family.  
  
"To what a dog's life can really be," Tramp replied on the TV, "I'll show ya what I mean. Look down there. Tell me what you see." he said, gesturing down at all the streets of houses below the hill.  
  
"Well... I see nice homes with yards and fencesÉ" Lady replied with a soft voice, looking around the hill with big brown eyes.  
  
The streetwise mutt continued, "Exactly. Life on a leash. Look again Pidge. Look there's a great big hunk of world down there with no fence around it, where two dogs can find adventure and excitement, and beyond those distant hills who knows what wonderful experiences. And it's all ours for the taking, Pidge. It's all ours."  
  
"It sounds wonderful," Lady, nicknamed Pigeon for some reason, lamented sadly, her eyes looking oh-so doe like and bright.  
  
"But?" came the disappointed prompt.  
  
"But who would look after the baby?" was the question, and Inuyasha wanted to pelt the dog with popcorn. Moronic puppy dog. Gee, freedom, or I could live with people who keep me chained in the backyard. Fun life it must be, huh?  
  
"Inuyasha?"  
  
At first he thought it was Lady saying his name, but then he realized it was Kagome talking. He looked over at her, and his amber eyes met hers. They were warm brown and puppy dog-like, just like Lady's.   
  
"You're awfully quiet." she said with a smile, as he watched her. "Normally, you're never this quiet."  
  
"Implying I'm noisy?" he responded with a slight smirk, and she leant her face against his shoulder again with a murmured, "No... its just rare to not hear you, that's all."  
  
She smiled, and lifted her head again to look up again. He took his eyes off the TV once more to look back at her, and she didn't say anything. He was strangely at peace... today had been confusing and messed up, and now it was just him and Kagome. He didn't have anything else to say, and nor did she. He wished silently he could hear her thoughts. Then, he would know if she was feeling what he felt right then.  
  
"Kagome." he said very gently, his silvery bangs tickling her forehead and he leaned his head down to stare into her eyes. His nose was barely two inches from hers, and they slowly neared one another's faces, centimeter by centimeter. He saw what was coming and was impatient for it. Little pink spots appeared on her cheeks, and she whispered his name back at him in an apprehensive voice.  
  
"How was the party, Kago- hey, what're you doing!?"  
  
Both jerked away from one another as Souta, Kagome's little brother, appeared in the doorway. Whatever spellbound feeling that was cast upon them was shattered immediately, and they both whirled their eyes to look at him. Neither spoke, just stared. Bad timing on Souta's part. Incredibly bad timing.  
  
"Get out of here, we're watching Lady and the Tramp!" Kagome said angrily, seizing a pillow from the couch and throwing it at him. Souta scampered out of the room with a sarcastically yelled, "Sor-ry!"  
  
She turned back to Inuyasha as the door was shut, and she gazed at his eyes shyly, blushing still. He regarded her as well, but, unfortunately, as the both knew, the moment was completely ruined. It wouldn't happen tonight.  
  
Edgily shifting his attention to the TV as Kagome sat up straighter so she wasn't leaning so much on him, he watched disinterestedly as one of the dogs was crushed by a horse and carriage. Had he been an actual dog, he would have cared. However, considering the only dog in him was dog-demon, he didn't give a shit about the dog on the TV. Right now, all he cared about was the Kiss that Never Was. 


	2. Thoughts Of Dreaming, Love and Hate

**Author:** Jennifer Rezny  
**Rating:** PG-13, for possible later content  
**Genre:** Inuyasha; romance/humor  
**Disclaimer:** All characters as of yet belong to Rumiko Takahashi, I am not that person. (I wish I was ;-;)  
**Notes:** Whee, I feel inspired, and I want to continue. Because... this is a nice story, I think, and I've gotten alot of praise both on and off this site. Rate me please?  
**Changes:** I'm an idiot, and I messed up Kagome's friends. They would be Ayumi, Eri and Yuka. None of them are named Rita. Heh... sorry 'bout that.  
  
**Update:** New version uploaded 5/31/04 - minor mistakes fixed, italics and that fixed. Love me   


........................  
  
** Chapter Two **  
  


The movie was over. Text was sliding up the screen quickly for what seemed like a long time, and it moved so fast Inuyasha could barely read the words. He was unsettled, too unsettled to even care about what the words were saying. Both were silent. He could hear Souta wandering around downstairs. Neither moved, even when the screen glowed blue and the tape started automatically rewinding to the beginning, he nor Kagome even shifted. He stared at the empty screen while she watched the floor. He was tempted to move his arm from the back of the couch, where it was nearly around her shoulders, but didn't dare move a muscle. It was too awkward.  
  
"So... where do you wanna bed down tonight?" she said suddenly in a really quiet, forced voice. He watched her, thinking. Common sense told him that her parents wouldn't like it if he slept in her room, but he wanted to be close by incase anything happened. The TV room was only a room away from Kagome's room. He could be there in a flash if something happened.  
  
"Here, I guess." he shrugged uncomfortably, and Kagome climbed down from the couch and ejected the movie from the player, placing it in its plastic case and shelving it.  
  
"'Kay." she murmured and smiled faintly. "I'll get you some blankets and stuff." and she went to the door, leaving down the hall. He sat there for a moment before abruptly standing up, accidentally knocking the empty popcorn bowl to the floor, where the unpopped kernels spilt across the carpet. He ignored it and ran after her, catching up to her in the hall.  
  
"Yes?" she said as he touched her shoulder gently, turning away from the shelves in the linen closet. "What is it?"  
  
He was unusually sensitive. With a slight hesitant voice, he asked, "Are you sure your mother won't mind me staying?"  
  
She shook her head with the same faint smile, and loaded her arms with blankets and a few spare pillows. "They won't... they're gone to a relative's for a few days. An aunt that lives alone. Me and Souta are home alone for the next two days."  
  
"So that's why you had to leave?" he said, taking the stuff from her arms and carrying it to the TV room, and she led him along the hall with a nod. "Why couldn't you have just stayed with us?"  
  
"Souta's in third grade, Inuyasha. He's eight years old. He can't stay home alone for almost a whole week." she said with only a twinge of exasperation. He considered this. She had a point... but she still was needed back home too.  
  
But instead of picking an argument, he unsurely continued his former question, "But you're absolutely sure its not a problem if... I stay the night?"  
  
She bobbed her head and began setting up the bed, tucking in the sheets over the couch cushions and arranging the thick over blanket. He watched silently, and neither spoke. It seemed the entire night was lined with awkward silences and endless staring at each other. He was getting quite irritated from it, but he felt extremely calm at the same time. She finished putting together his bed, and watched him with her brown eyes, the color of dark chestnut tree bark.  
  
"I'll... I'll be in my room." she said, in a humble voice, and she backed from the room with a quiet, "Goodnight, Inuyasha."  
  
As she shut the door behind her, he stood for a moment, facing the door. He listened to the tap-tap of her stockinged feet on the floor, ears flicking every few minutes, arms limp at his sides. Then he sat down on the couch, moving his eyes to the wall. He could hear her through the wall, her chair wheels rolling sluggishly across the carpet, a pencil scratching at a paper. He just listened, nothing more.  
  
Kagome was in love with him. He knew it, saw it. Although she never admitted it, he had a very strong impression of her feelings for him. The blushing, the leaning against him, the constant 'I want to be with you' attitude... it was such a dead ringer.  
  
With a painful pang, he recalled him and Kikyo when they were younger... that's what they were like, too. Except... he had long moved on from that, hadn't he? He'd moved on from Kikyo and was now dedicated only to Kagome, yet still he was unsure whether it was a sense of duty or a deeper calling. He and Kikyo had had a failed relationship that ended in sorrow and heartbreak. And now, he didn't want that to start over with Kagome. He had a fresh slate now, he supposed. Kagome was not going to end up like Kikyo, pitted against him.  
  
Did he love her back? Did he?  
  
He wasn't even sure. All he knew is that the moment he had had with Kagome alone was lined with a very powerful feeling. A feeling of calm happiness. Nothing to worry about. It was a very magical moment, prematurely destroyed. He gazed sadly at the wall. That's what it was. Wishful thinking that it would actually happen.  
  
Awkwardly dragging his makeshift bed onto the floor, he lay down on his back, stretched out on the floor between the TV and the couch. He sighed heavily, closing his eyes, oblivious to the fact that the girl on the other side of the wall was doing the exact same thing.  
  


........................  
  


  
_ "Hey, Kagome!" Inuyasha shouted, and Kagome's head lifted up. "Ever hunt wolves?"  
"No." was the simple reply, flat and emotionless. He replied with with a wild grin, "Then you've never lived!"  
She shook her head and insisted, in the same bored tone, "But we shouldn't. We might hurt them."  
  
Inuyasha replied with a cheerful voice, "I know! That's what makes it fun! Come on... start building some memories, we won't kill them, just stir them up a bit. Just look at them, they're begging to be beat up."  
  
Kagome shook her head in a melancholy way, refusing still, even as she looked up at the demon wolf tribe on the next hill. He watched too, as the grey grass waved in the breeze. It was like watching the world without color. The only color he could see was his robes and her schoolgirl outfit. However, the color on Kagome was faded to a green-grey, but he took no notice.  
  
He watched as the pack of wolf demons started running towards them at a lighting speeds, in a battle stance and weapons drawn and spears aloft. He watched in terror as Kagome was swept into the arms of Kouga, the wolf-demon who was smitten with her, and carried off. He couldn't move, and Kouga sneered in his face as he ran off with her. He was frozen still. His feet were tied in the grass. He shouted, but no noise came out, and Kagome's color faded completely into shades of grey. He felt empty, and torn. The wolves were laughing and throwing seeds at him, so the small brown kernels rained on him.   
  
_ And then the dream was over.  
  
Sitting bolt upright, cold sweat dripping down his face, he barely missed hitting his head on the TV stand. His t-shirt was clinging to his shoulders and sides, and his silvery hair was draped down his shoulders as he leaned forwards, breathing hard. A dream. It was only a dream. Kagome was not taken away from him. She was still asleep in the next room, soundly dreaming good dreams, unlike his own reverie.   
  
But the thought alone did not assure him this, so he did not hesitate to stay in the room. Standing up and retrieving tetsuaiga from underneath the couch, where he had hidden it, he tied the sheath to his waist and wandered down the hall, his feet soundlessly stepping against the floor. In the room across from Kagome's, Souta was snoring lightly. He turned to Kagome's room, one hand on tetsuaiga's battered hilt.  
  
Kagome's missing door, blasted from its door frame, was replaced by a blanket hanging across the door frame. Carefully, he drew it aside, and peered in. Kagome was sitting at her desk, slouched over and lying on the tabletop, using her arms for a pillow. She was breathing lightly, perfectly asleep, face blank and emotionless, the girl lost in her slumber. He padded over to her, and leaned over her to check that she really was sleeping. She was, a few papers scattered across the desk with a small book with a metal contraption locking it closed. Glancing at her bed, he went over to it and pulled back the covers, before going back over to her and carefully taking her into his arms, where she shifted slightly with a murmured, "Oh, just five more minutes..." and he paused, halfway across the room to her bed, waiting for her to settle before moving again.  
  
Carefully, he laid her down on the pillows and cushions, and taking the edge of the blankets and pulling them up over her chest to her shoulders, he watched her for a moment, her chest rising and falling as she breathed easily. Unsettled, he sat down on the very end of her bed, watching her dream quietly.   
  
He picked up the book on the desk, the gold fastening on the side undone. Sliding it off, he flipped open the book, and leafed through the pages, finding an entry dated October 29th. He looked at this carefully, and looked at the calendar on her desk. Yes, that was today.  
  


........................  
  


  
_ Dearest Diary,  
  
Today, Inuyasha came over to the present day Tokyo. In the middle of my Halloween party. My friends took it pretty bad, but considering he managed to wreck my door, a small portion of the wall and the toaster oven, I don't blame them. I'm not mad though. Inuyasha was just concerned - and probably missed me too. I missed him so much too... I was actually happy he came. My friends were just being nice to want to throw a party with me, but I just was getting bored with their halloween party at my house. For once, I didn't want to go home. I made a promise to Inuyasha that I would stay with him. I promised. I'll never leave his side. Inuyasha's the person I want to be with. I don't know how he'd react if he knew I was this far in love with him, but I'll never leave his side, never, no matter what. I can't.  
  
Inuyasha's in the next room tonight. I wonder what he's doing, so quiet and soundless. I taught him to use a microwave and make popcorn after he destroyed the toaster oven trying to make it, and then we curled up on the couch to watch a movie. We watched Lady and the Tramp... Inuyasha picked it, after finding out it was my favorite. I don't think a few things in it made sense to him... I know he was confused about the guns and some of the animals in it and stuff. But he was very nice, sitting through it with me, though he much have been bored from his mind.  
  
I don't know what happened between us tonight, but sitting there on the couch something did happen. I think we were about to kiss. We were so close. So very close. I wanted it so much... but was it my imagination? Its all so confusing sometimes... did he really want to kiss me, or did he want to tell me something? I swear, Inuyasha is so different from other guys. You can never tell with him. I can't tell anymore... Kikyo and I both want to be with him, its the only thing in common we have, yet I can't find out who's with him. Technically, I am with him more - physically. But is -with- Kikyo? Or with me?  
  
Oh, I love him so much... I realized it a long time ago, right before I went back after the fight, when I still wanted to stay with him. And I don't know if this love is meant to be or not. I pray it is. I couldn't stand to be parted from him again.  
  
-Kagome  
  
_

........................  
  


He reread this a few times. So this was the source of the pencil scratching. Each time he reread this, he found himself more and more sad. Did she truly love him? Was this the irony of Lady and the Tramp? The gentle and kind sweetheart falling in love with the rough-around-the-edges devil? And... was he in love with her too? He placed the book on the table in the same spot it had been before, leaving the lock open and dangling from the clasp, like he had found it. Kagome would not have been pleased if she knew. He realized only after reading - this was supposed to be a secret book of her thoughts.  
  
With the tetsuaiga in its sheath across his lap, he stood guard over her, listening carefully. "Do you really love me, Kagome?" he whispered to her, though she wouldn't answer in her napping. "Because... I think I'm in love with you too." he added gingerly, almost sadly. "And... I don't know if its right to be in love with you... I have a lot of enemies. People... people would use you to get to me. And admitting I love you... it would mean taking the chance of you getting hurt."  
  
He remembered months ago, when Kagome saw him and Kikyo under the tree, hugging. He had felt destroyed. He had rejected her, and had chosen to say goodbye forever, because he had chosen Kikyo over her. But she, she came right back to him, and made things right again. That was the time she mentioned in the entry. When she swore to stay with him. She didn't try and win him off of Kikyo... but she still came back, even though she knew there was no place for her in his heart, even though she knew she had been rejected.  
  
"There's still my promise to Kikyo, which I have not carried out... I cannot swear to love you and never leave you if I'm set to die for another woman... an undead woman made of clay."  
  
But was there room for her now? Kikyo had betrayed him and he no longer held any place for her, leaving a painful void that needed to be filled. There was room for Kagome. There was more room for her than anyone else. And he always wanted to be with her.  
  
"Kagome.." he muttered, and the memory came back to him perfectly, like a vision. He had come to the well go see her one last time and say goodbye.   
  
_But she was there, waiting for her. She had looked at him. "I went back to the present and thought it over... wondering about you and Kikyo... and about me." she had said, and when he stuttered, she had continued, "Its ok... I understand how you feel... and because of that I convinced myself that I couldn't stay here with you."  
  
He had replied in the only way he had known. "Kagome... until I met you, I didn't trust a single soul. But I watched you cry for my sake, you've always stayed by my side... whenever I'm with you, I feel so peaceful and happy, but, I'm not supposed to be all at ease and cheerful." then there had been an incredibly awkward silence, and he had continued, "Kikyo... Kikyo came after me and risked her life.... its only right that I repay her with my own."  
  
Kagome had smiled sadly at him. "I know I can never match Kikyou. After all, I'm still alive... but I've been thinking about me and Kikyo. She and I are completely different. There's all this talk that I'm a reincarnation of her, and even if that's true, I'm still not Kikyo. You see," she trailed, and said softly, "my heart belongs to me." There had been another pause, and she had continued truthfully, "Here's the thing I do understand. One feeling that Kikyo had, something that we share, is that we're alike in our want to be with you."  
  
He had given a soft noise of confusion at this, and Kagome had continued once more, "Strange, you know? The moment I realized that we were alike in our desire to be with you, I felt a little bit better... the desire to be with you gives us a common bond, and that's how I was able to summon up the courage to come and see you..." Inuyasha had stared at her as she softly said, looking away from him, "I want to be here with you, Inuyasha. I try to forget you, but I just can't. Let me stay with you."  
  
"You'd... stay with me?" he had stammered, and she had nodded firmly, and taken his hand. He could still remember the feel of her hand, her fingers so much smaller than his, curled around his palm and skin soft against his battle-worn hands. It had been a turning point in their relationship, for good or bad.  
  
_ "You're in my heart, Kagome." he presently whispered, staring endlessly at him. She stirred the bed, as if hearing him, and he settled into his spot at the end of her bed, sitting at her feet, closing his amber eyes and falling asleep sitting right there.  
  


........................  
  


When morning came, he was quite startled. When he awoke, he was slumped over on his side at the foot of her bed, with a blanket draped over him. The tetsuaiga was lying neatly on the table, which was now clean of paper and pencils. The secret-filled book was missing. Where was she? The bed was made, and he lay atop the blankets, and the room was tidy. All the the mangled wood littering around the door was gone. He stood up, sniffing, and wandered downstairs, following a scent of cooked pork drifting around the house. With it was the wonderful smell of eggs and toasting bread.  
  
Picking up his pace, he made his way down the stairs and slid neatly into the kitchen, eyes falling immediately on Kagome. She was preoccupied with her cooking, and a black box sitting on the counter sang out music that she hummed to cheerfully. He stood there for a moment, still clad in his pajamas, and then asked, "Why didn't ya wake me up?"  
  
She gave a surprised yelp, startled, jumping and nearly upsetting a narrow carton of milk on the table. Kagome's eyes landed on him and placed and hand on her chest, saying breathily, "Do not scare me like that!" in a slightly unnerved voice, and he chuckled.  
  
"Well? Why didn't you wake me up?"  
  
She moved the eggs around in a pan with the spatula, so they did not burn. "Well," she said with a smile, a slightly shy one, and her cheeks blushed a bit. "you were sound asleep, and I figured you'd want breakfast ready when you awoke."  
  
He smirked, raising an eyebrow, "Oh? Why would I want your cooking? Its not that great."  
  
She threw him a sarcastic glance, fighting fire with fire, and said, "I'll remember that next time you want ramen noodles, then."  
  
He grinned apologetically as she placed a plate of eggs, ham and toast on the table in front of him. He sat down to eat anyway, and lifted a piece of scrambled egg to his mouth gingerly, tasting it. With a smirk, he looked back at her, and said, "You know, you aren't too bad a cook... when you're in your time."  
  
She narrow her eyes and slyly said, "Oh, well, Inuyasha, I suppose we could let you cook for us more often... then you wouldn't have to eat what Sango, Shippo, Miroku or I cook."   
  
Inuyasha looked slightly panicked at this, and countered, "But I can't cook! Cooking is the woman's job, anyway! And... cooking is boring. Real men don't cook."  
  
"Shippo's only a little boy, so he's being nice, and Miroku helps us when we ask him to, and he doesn't complain." she said with a smile, as their argument was a friendly one, "Why can't you?"  
  
"Yeah, well, Miroku just wants to get an excuse to be close to Sango," Inuyasha replied snarkily, yawning and downing a glass of milk in one swig and stuffing a piece of toast into his mouth, and continued with a full mouth, "Because Miroku's a perverted monk, so I guess if cooking gets you close to Sango's butt, then its his favorite pass time."  
  
She laughed, and he grinned, swallowing his mouthful, and she said, "Is that so?" with a grin, and then added, "Do you want to bring back some stuff to the feudal era, then? Some ramen and stuff like that to tide you and the other over until I get back?"  
  
"Who said I was leaving without you?" he replied stubbornly, glancing over at her, his golden amber eyes locking on hers.   
  
Kagome lifted an eyebrow and said with a surprised voice, "You're going to put up with me and Souta for two days?" He nodded firmly, handing her his now-empty plate for her to refill. She complied, loading his plate with heaps of eggs and ham, and then said, "Well, you should at least tell Sango, Miroku and Shippo so they don't worry about what's going on."  
  
He shrugged, and began wolfing down his second helping as she seated herself across from him at the table, picking up her chopsticks and eating her meal in a mannerly fashion. He finished his meal quickly, and stood up, saying, "I'll be back in a few then, I'll go tell them."  
  
She nodded, and watched him dash from the house, still wearing the pajamas, giggling madly and watching him disappear into the old shrine. She would have killed to see everyone else's faces when they saw him like that.  
  


........................  
  


Sango and Miroku were perched on the edges of the well, talking and conversing casually about random things, when Inuyasha scaled the inside walls of the well and popped out the top, panting for breath. Both looked up and quieted immediately, Miroku gaining an amused look on his face. Sango looked somewhat shocked, and she spoke first.  
  
"Inuyasha, I won't ask what you've been up to, but Kagome is not with you." Sango said seriously, watching him with a stony look. "I would say you've had another fight..." she said, but her voice gained a tint of sarcasm to it, "but judging by the fact you aren't wearing your robes, I assume all is well?"  
  
His eyes widened and he looked down at himself, still wearing the t-shirt and the loose pants. Blushing angrily, he glared at both of them, quite annoyed. This was all he needed.  
  
"Shut up." he said irritably, hitting Miroku over the head with his fist as the monk started laughing. Miroku winced, but stifled more laughs.  
  
"It appears our great hanyou dog-demon has turned fully human." Miroku chuckled, giving Inuyasha's shirt sleeve a tug. Inuyasha growled, jerking away, and his friend continued, "Dear Inuyasha, what have you been up to?"  
  
"I damaged my other ones, so I borrowed these." he growled back, and Sango smirked, "How exactly did you damage your old ones?"  
  
"Arrrg!" Inuyasha vented, "Never mind that! I just came to tell you that I'm staying with Kagome for the rest of her absence... her mother and grandfather are making her stay home, and its just her and her brother, so I figured I might as well keep her company."  
  
"It appears Inuyasha has been brainwashed," Sango smirked again, turning her eyes onto Miroku, "wasn't it just yesterday he was yelling at us about how much he hated the future because it was so full of stupid things that take Kagome away, which prevents him from getting the jewel and hunting out Naraku, which means he can't get his revenge and become a youkai?"  
  
"Shut UP!" he snapped again, and climbed back into the well. "I'm going back, okay?! I'll explain some other time!"  
  
Miroku, smiling and laughing, continued where Sango left off, in his upbeat voice, "I would have never suspected that Inuyasha would want to leave the quest to defeat Naraku."  
  
Inuyasha did not reply verbally, as instead he went to jump down into the well. However, jumping onto the rim of the well, he ended up tripping over the edge of his pajama pants, unused to the slightly too long pant legs that went over his feet. Dropping headfirst down the well, he felt himself being sucked back through the time warp, where he felt the air shifting around him, like he was floating through water. He was used to this by now, but dropping into the bottom of the well in Kagome's time, he landed quite upside-down and on his head. Rolling over to sit up, still annoyed over his strange conversation with Sango and Miroku, he grumbled, and began climbing up the side of the well.  
  


........................  
  


"The weather sucks."  
  
Inuyasha's grumbles brought Kagome back to reality. She had been sitting at her desk, reading textbooks, and she turned in her seat to glance at him, sitting on the floor and playing with Buyo, the fat calico cat. He would grab Buyo by the scruff of the neck and tease him a bit, then let him go, and just as the poor cat tried to run, he would be snatched up again, left at the dog-demon's mercy.  
  
"Its no reason to torture the cat, though." Kagome replied, scooping up Buyo from the floor as Inuyasha went to grab him again. She cuddled him against her chest, and said in a cooing voice, "Poor kitty... is the doggie bothering you?"  
  
The 'doggie' scowled, folded his arms, and said bossily, "Lets go shopping or something."  
  
Kagome shook her head, and put the cat down in the hall, where the cat scampered downstairs immediately. Inuyasha muttered an indignant, "Why not?"  
  
"I have to study." she said firmly, and he gave a pouty look, mixed with irritation and a scowl. Repeating herself for effect, when he looked rebellious, she said, "No. I have to study."  
  
"Fine. I'll go on my own." he said firmly, rising to his feet. She immediately shadowed his movements, and blocked the door, with a shake of a pointed finger and a steady, "No", as if she was scolding a dog.  
  
"Awww, c'mon Kagome, we need to get more bandages and stuff anyway." he said, using the knowledge that she was always concerned for first aid to his advantage. She sighed, looked at the floor for one minute, and then replied in a bereaved voice, "One minute, I need to get dressed."  
  
He grinned, and vanished from the room, going down the hall to 'his room' to change into his robes.  
  


........................  
  


Wandering around the shopping mall, wearing his normal outfit minus the haori jacket, a baseball cap crammed over his ears, Inuyasha followed Kagome through aisles of boxes and bottles in the drugstore. Or rather, she dragged him past things be would normally stop to look at.  
  
"Okay, Inuyasha..." Kagome said, pulling him to a stop in the center of the shopping mall underneath a huge clock in the middle of the food court. "I have to study, but you can wander around here, okay, but remember the rules, right?"  
  
"Blah blah, don't take off the hat, blah blah, don't talk to anyone, blah blah, don't start fights, don't attract attention, blah blah blah... feh... Kagome, I'm not stupid." he rattled off, and she looked serious.  
  
"Inuyasha, I will meet you here at five o'clock." she said in a dead no-nonsense tone, pointing at the clock. "You have to be standing right here, underneath this clock, when the big stick is pointing at the top, and the shorter stick is pointing at the five. Right there, okay?"  
  
He rolled his eyes, and said in a mock-polite voice, "Yessss, Kagome. Can I go now?"  
  
As he turned to leave, she gripped his arm to stop him and said forcibly, "Remember... no stealing either. I'm going to be sitting here in the foot court studying. If you aren't back by five, I am leaving without you and you can find your own way back."  
  
"Yeah, yeah..." he said impatiently, and wrestled his wrist from her hold. "I told ya, I'm not stupid, I'll be there..."  
  
Walking off and pushing through the crowds, he looked only slightly out of place next to everyone else. If it weren't ('What was it called again?') that stupid holiday, he might have gotten weird looks. Instead, he received a few compliments, regardless of whether or not they knew what he was supposed to be dressed as. Damn, future humans were weird. He was slightly annoyed that Sango and Miroku's kind were going to mutate into these weird, wimpy mortals that were so very dependent on electricity and machines. It was a sickening thought.  
  
Wandering in and out of various stores, he found himself standing in a very colorful store full of toys, the last store in the entire mall. He had timed it carefully so he could visit each store, and had five minutes to explore this last shop before he had to meet Kagome. Rows of dolls, aisles of electric boxes and tons and tons of colorful boxes, and many other things crowded the store. Looking through it with interest, he found a rack of plastic swords, and two little boys playing with them. Watching them brandish the weapons pointlessly and with no care, he snatched them from their hands and said,  
  
"Hey! HEY! Those should be treated with respect! Do you even know what you're doing?"  
  
One of the boys, looking very upset, tilted his head back to look up at him, and said, "We were just play-fightin', mister, we won't hurt them."  
  
"No, no, do you know how to USE a sword?" Inuyasha shook his head, voice incredulous. How could children their age NOT know how to fence properly? Most young boys learned to fight at age seven... "Didn't anyone teach you?"  
  
The boys slowly shook their heads, and Inuyasha re-equipped them with their plastic weapons.   
  
"You see, you don't just randomly slash... you have to aim your blows, and try and hit your opponent's weak points, y'see?" he explained, taking the tetsuaiga from its sheath. He had insisted on bringing it with him, with the promise of not using it. However... now was an important occasion. Boys needed to know how to fight. It was very basic training!  
  
"So when your opponent jumps at you like this..." he continued, gesturing the movement in slow motion, "then you have to block like this..." he moved the tetsuaiga up to show blocking.  
  
The boys nodded, and stood off against each other. One jumped hesitantly at the other, but the other blocked the blow much too fast, causing it to be more of a light tackle, and both boys landed on the ground with a thump.   
  
"Now, really, if an enemy ran at you like that, I'd say that your enemy was some kind of retard for being such a sissy."  
  
One boy started to cry, and he picked him up by the collar.  
  
"Kid, you gotta kill your enemies, right? Why would you run at them like a pansy?"  
  
The boy burst into noisy tears, drawing the attention of shoppers. A rather round lady came over, and imperiously demanded, "Just what are you doing to my boys!", brandishing a big handbag. He stepped back, dropping the boy so he landed on the hard floor on his butt, and cautiously replaced the untransformed tetsuaiga back in its sheath in a non-threatening way.  
  
"I was just teaching them to fight. All boys need to know how to fight." he shrugged, and motioned at the toy swords littering the ground. The lady was not impressed, and began making a loud fuss, swinging her handbag at him. Instinctively, he drew his sword, to block the attack, but the fabric handbag just split and was cut cleanly in two with the block, sending the contents flying. Coins, plastic tubes, little packets, bills of paper and various things flew everywhere, and he took the opportunity to run for his life.  
  
Running so fast he could barely be seen, he lost the lady and her children, plus all the security guards that had picked up on him. He skidded to a halt on the floor, the borrowed pair of sandals from Kagome's attic providing bad traction and causing him to slide haphazardly across the tiled floors. Checking the clock, he swore when he saw her table empty and the clock five minutes past the allotted time. Damn, damn, damn. Lifting his head in the air, finding her scent, he went to follow it. Yes, at least it would be easy to track her.  
  
Taking off at a rapid pace, he began the trek back to her house.  
  


........................  
  


Was is her nature to never be around or something? Why was it every time he went to look for her or turned around, she was gone? It was slightly disturbing, really, how she moved around in the future. And now, walking into the house again after a long walk home and a relatively 'uneventful' shopping trip, he was wondering why the house was so bloody silent. However, as silent as it was, there was scents everywhere still. Souta's scents went out the front door, suggesting that the boy had gone outside to play or something, and Kagome's went up the stairs.  
  
Figuring she was in her room, he went up there first, but she wasn't there. Her scent radiated all over the house, and it was difficult to pick out the freshest scents among the older spores. Making his way down the hall, he checked every door, and he found her strongest scent leading directly to the last door in the hall. Putting his hand on the handle, he twisted it open with an unusually loud click, walking in.  
  
His eyes widened in shock as he saw her. She was sitting in a huge porcelain bowl filled with water, the top of the water coated in thick bubbles. He was silent, just staring at her bare back, and she slowly turned around suddenly, and caught sight of him standing there, and began screaming.  
  
She ducked low, shouting, "Sit!" at the top of her lungs to no avail, and burying herself deep in the bubbles up to her chin. He just froze and stared for a moment, before stepping out and shutting the door. And he thought Souta's timing was horrible...  
  
"Why don't you just lock the friggin' door?" he said, leaning against the door frame irritably. He listened to the sound of water swishing around, and she replied snappily, her voice both embarrassed and angry.  
  
"I did lock it! You broke the lock!"  
  
"What?! Do I break everything or something?!" he retorted indignantly, folding his arms across his chest and waited for another reply, but heard only an enraged sigh, like a venting noise.  
  
"Kagome...?" he trailed, after a few moments of hearing only scowling noises and shuffling, and the watery swish of moving water. He waited impatiently, and finally added, "Kagome, I didn't know you were in there."  
  
The door opened, and she brushed by, a bathrobe draped over her and tied at the waist by a sash, and she walked towards her bedroom as if he wasn't there. He watched after her, and called her name again. She didn't reply, but he could sense the anger fuming off of her. He stood there, watching her disappear into her room with a swish of a curtain.  
  
"Kagomeeeee?" he called, dragging out the last syllable in an exasperated tone, tired of the whole I'm-mad-at-you-and-want-apologies thing she kept pulling on him. However, as tired as he was of the predictable routine, he childishly called back, "What's the matter? Gonna run home just because I accidentally walked in on you?"  
  
Her head appeared in the door, and she snarled, "I'm already home, stupid!" before going back inside.  
  
He was blank for a moment, just staring, figuring he had that one coming. Way to go, Inuyasha, speaking before thinking.  
  
"Well, fine!" he spluttered, "Stay home! See if I care!"  
  
She rolled her eyes and snapped, as her head reappeared, and she shouted, "Its your turn to run home now!"  
  
Every single nice thought he had been thinking the previous night vanished completely from his mind. Clenching his fists into tight balls and storming over to her, he snapped, "I'm not leaving without you!"  
  
"Oh, yes you are!" she snapped, "You're leaving RIGHT NOW. Go home, doggie!"  
  
"Why you little..." he growled, then roared back, "You were in SUCH a good mood this morning? What happened, did you get a rock shoved up your ass or something? Or is it that time of the month?"  
  
She hit him. Hard. A quick slap across the cheek left it stinging and red, and she squalled back, "You jerk!" and disappeared into her room behind the curtain again. He stood there, angry, face prickling in protest to the strong slap.  
  
I will not hit a woman. I will NOT hit a woman.  
  
"Damnit, Kagome, its not like I SAW anything, for your information!" he retorted, and resisted the urge to follow her in. "And its it not like I haven't seen it before!" he added with a smirk, and he heard her stomp her foot on the ground inside.   
  
"Peeping tom! Pervert! Lech!" she accused, each word relatively familiar to his ears, though they were rarely ever used on him. Normally, those were words for Miroku, not him.  
  
"I just said, I didn't see anything!" he insisted, angrily digging his claw into a piece of still-intact door frame to prevent himself from getting too angry. "Why the hell don't you believe me?!"  
  
"Because you're a pigheaded jerk!" came her aggravated voice, and she jerked back the makeshift door, eyes narrowed and her own fists clenched. She was still wearing the bathrobe, clutching it shut although the sash was tightly tied, as if she was afraid it would open.  
  
He cowered back slightly at the angry look on her face, and said in a wildly confused voice, "Why do you get so angry over this? Will you just shut up and get over it?!"  
  
She gave an angry sigh, and snapped, "Okay, this is just getting stupid! Why are you so immature?!"  
  
"Me?!" he said incredulously, "I'M the one being immature?!"  
  
"Yes!" she said furiously, but then the strangest look came over her face. He stared in confused awe, with a sulky, "What?" and she began to laugh.  
  
He blinked, watching her laugh her head off, and then he grabbed her forearms, giving her an annoyed jerk and leaning very close and quietly snarling, "What is so damned funny?!"  
  
She continued to laugh, and then said, between laughs and giggles, "This... this... this happens all the time, and I just... realized how..." more laughs shook her, and she choked out, "many times we have had... the EXACT same argument..."  
  
Inuyasha looked at the girl he was clutching, her blue-grey eyes shut from laughing so hard. She looked so... so happy all the sudden, and although he didn't quite understand why it happened at that exact moment, but the whole thing really was so damned comical. She was laughing, obviously over it, and he was feeling quite funny inside.  
  
Then there was nothing left to do but kiss her...  
  



End file.
